Viral Events
Beat Intro
Voiceover
00:00 This is the Beat—a podcast series that keeps you in the know about the latest community policing topics facing our nation.
Interview
Mora Fiedler
00:08 This is Mora Fiedler with the COPS Office. With us today is Captain Mike Parker from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Captain Parker is here to talk with us today about events that go viral. Can you describe how seemingly normal events can suddenly turn into an internet event with blanket coverage by the media?
Mike Parker
00:28 Well, the speed and access to social media and video distribution, along with decreased costs of smartphones, has made everyone a citizen reporter now, capable of making an otherwise unnoticed but interesting event into a viral sensation. People connect with images. Photos and video of events from people on scene make the story irresistible for people to share over and over again.
Mora
00:56 What about cases where an officer faces charges of illegal use of force or racial profiling where the incident goes viral on social media platforms? Is there a way for agencies to handle such events in the least damaging way for both the agencies and the communities they serve?
Mike
01:16 You know, it only takes a perception of inappropriate conduct, not an actual misdeed, for an officer’s image, his name, and the agency to go viral. Even a random contact, such as a traffic stop of a celebrity or even a person with a noteworthy social media following, could potentially become a viral phenomenon on the internet and then get picked up by the news media around the world, seemingly in minutes. We see it happening across the country and world constantly. It really is a whole new era.
Officers need to embrace their core values. Agencies need to make it clear that officers need to do the right thing all the time and to presume that they’re always on video. The world really is watching. Generations of officers need to come together. We veteran officers need to share with younger officers where the hazards are, including public perception. Meanwhile, veterans need to embrace the younger officers’ superior knowledge of new media and social media, all these new communications systems, and empower them to represent our agencies.
When you do see an incident with the potential to go viral, immediately warn involved officers to take down their personal social media information and photos. Some are already very careful but, frankly, many are reckless.
Mora
02:38 What are some preventative steps law enforcement agencies can take to lessen the viral impact of events?
Mike
02:45 I’d say four things:
First, acceptance. The public wants you to engage them and we work for the public. Embrace social media and e-communications now and engage your customers. Resistance is futile.
Second, pick a leader and empower him or her. It isn’t about rank or position; it’s the knowledge-worker age. Who leads your effort needs to be able to speak the language of social media and electronic communications as well as communications that have been around for a long time.
Third, be patient but persistent. It’s going to take some time to implement this at your agency, or to get good at it. Take it a step at a time but keep moving right now.
Fourth, training, training, training. A social media policy mostly tells officers what they can’t do. What they need to know is what they can do, too. This is so new that not everything has been worked out yet. Once the strategy for one new communications system is developed, five more seem to appear. You have to be flexible.
Mora
03:49 How can agencies predict when an event is going to become a media or internet sensation? How can predictive policing be used to balance the needs of the agency and the needs of the community?
Mike
04:02 Well, we’d all sure like to be able to predict that. If we had that answer down pat, somebody would be making a lot of money off of it. Remember that a viral sensation isn’t always a controversial event. It could be a video of an officer rescuing a child or blocking traffic while ducklings are crossing a road. These stories will keep you busy as well. The public wants to compliment us as well as criticize us, and my mom said that if you receive a compliment it’s polite to acknowledge it.
If you hear or see something about your agency that affects your policing jurisdiction and it seems to cause a sense of embarrassment within yourself as you hear about it, see it, or pride, if you laugh, if you have a desire to share it with just one other human being, then it has the potential to go viral. You need to immediately address it. The days of “time is on your side” when it comes to a viral sensation are gone. Time is not on your side. Although sometimes the best thing to do is nothing, oftentimes there needs to be some acknowledgment and addressing.
Another thing I’d mention is the 11 Cs of news media interest and public focus. Those, without elaborating, are:
1. Catastrophe
2. Change
3. Celebrity
4. Children
5. Color – such as human interest or action
6. Conflict
7. Controversy
8. Corruption
9. Crisis
10. Crime, and, of course
11. Critters
When you think about those 11 Cs and you look at what you see on the news, you’ll find them there, and therefore you’ll find them within viral sensations.
Mora
05:44 Lastly, are there any resources out there for agencies on how to both predict these events and try to prevent them?
Mike
05:51 There’s a lot more available than you would think. The International Association of Chiefs of Police has been a tremendous leader in social media education and training. If you attend any of their conferences, you’ll find it there. Also, they have a great social media website with many, many articles and contacts around the world of agencies that are using social media. You can find one that is close to you geographically and work together.
A social media training video was just completed by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, California POST. That actually was made available mid-year in 2012 and it provides a great overview for everyone in law enforcement. Frankly, it applies to everyone in government. We’re now working with California POST on a crowd management video that should be completed by the end of the year, again through California POST.
There’s also the Social Media, Internet, and Law Enforcement, also known as the SMILE Conference that takes place several times a year. That also provides training. The California Peace Officers’ Association offers several 8-hour POST-certified courses in social media, which include an overview—as well as hands-on training—relating to all these topics as well as criminal investigations.
There’s also many, many articles out there. Frankly, everything is moving so quickly, you really need to continuously look for new publications to see what’s the latest. One that’s good as well is the Strategic Communications Practices by the National COPS Office, a publication that’s available.
Really, there’s no substitute for experience. You can read a lot and attend classes, but we learned how to handle robberies as cops. We learned how to handle robberies by handling robberies. We learned how to be an incident commander by being an incident commander. You learn about these new communications, really, by swallowing your pride, accept that you need to learn it, and learn it.
Mora
07:48 Captain Parker, thank you so much for providing us with your expertise and your time.
Mike
07:53 Thank you.
Beat Exit
Voiceover:
07:54 The Beat was brought to you by the United States Department of Justice COPS Office. The COPS Office helps to keep our nation’s communities safe by giving grants to law enforcement agencies, developing community policing publications, developing partnerships, and solving problems.
Disclaimer:
08:11 The opinions contained herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or polices of the U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an endorsement by the authors or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement discussion of the issues.
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